


Cowboy Up!

by katlikeworld



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: (most likely just violence), Alternate Universe, Anger control, Confidence, Eventual Smut, Healing, M/M, Probably missing tags, Stucky - Freeform, country boy x city boy, farm life, no serum actually, not yet, post war bucky, pre-serum steve, shrinkyclinks, will add smut tag permanently when it is there, will also adjust warnings as things come up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 01:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20573849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katlikeworld/pseuds/katlikeworld
Summary: After yet another fight, Sam is at a loss of what to do to help his friend who just can't seem to stay out of trouble. He calls up some old contacts and, with some urging, gets Steve to agree to relocate.Where?To a farm.In the middle of no where.To try and find a better outlet for his fighting energy.--Bucky had been released from the military and was struggling to return to a normal life. So, after the egging of his friend and his mentor, he packed up his bags and relocated.Where?To a farm.In the middle of nowhere.To try and find himself again.--After eight years on that farm, with his life slowly balancing out to normalcy, Bucky is soon to have his quiet, peaceful world shaken up. By none other than a small, attractive male who's heart was just so full of compassion and "fight me!"





	Cowboy Up!

**Author's Note:**

> I have been sitting on this fic for a while now. I finally decided to sit down and write it. I don't promise to post weekly or anything remotely seeming like a consistent schedule, but I will try. I hope you enjoy!  
\--  
I have made some **edits** that I hadn't noticed I needed before posting. Normally I read things aloud first to make sure they work and things are horribly misspelled. Didn't do it this time and it was evident. Sorry about that :-)

“You really ought to stop this.” Said the dark skinned male firmly as he carefully dabbed a cotton pad into some alcohol, “I know you mean well but, Steve, you ain’t exactly the fighting type…” Peering up at the scrawny male who was perched beside him, equally as battered as the counter top he sat on, the taller male tilted his head and frowned. 

“He had it comin’ Sam.” The smaller male replied looking away from the accusatory and judgmental gaze from his friend. “I couldn’t just let him go after what he tried to do to that gal.” This earned a long heavy, but slightly sympathetic sigh in response. 

"This is the 8th time this week you’ve been in a fight Steve!” Came Sam’s almost too loud response as he threw up his hands in exasperation, “And it's only _Wednesday_! Come on Steve, You really gotta curb that bundle of rage inside you. Do those breathing exercises we talked about or something."

"Hah, breathing exercises, right.” Steve ran a hand through his disheveled hair and down over his face in frustration. 

No matter what, Sam always told him the same thing and tried hard to make him understand why what he did was not the best action he could have taken. He just didn’t understand why Steve felt so compelled to stick his nose in dangerous scenarios. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t seem to fix problems with his head instead of his hands. Steve was smart, but for some reason, just couldn’t seem to… think when it came to situations like this one. As such, they would go around and around in the same arguments each and every time. “Sam, that guy was a bully! You should have seen all the crap he has done! I wasn't going to just stand back and…"

Steve's statement was interrupted with a pointed look in his direction as Sam turned and wordlessly pressed the cotton past to the scrape on Steve's leg, hard, earning a wince in return. Steve bit his lip to push past the pain as he looked firmly at the far wall trying to focus. Sam had heard that exact statement many times before and it stopped having the same affect on him that it did the first few times he heard it. 

"That 'bully' was your boss…"

This halted all conversation in its tracks as the blonde peered at him defiantly, trying hard to look tough before he collapsed under the other man’s stern stare. Looking to the floor he visibly deflated. It’s true that the man he had just attempted a brawl with was his boss, and thus he more than likely lost his job over it yet again. Still, he just couldn’t sit idly by. “I don’t like bullies.” he replied softly, almost like a sulking toddler who was still trying to make a stand against the person who just scolded them. “I don’t care where they are from.”

They sat in silence for a moment before it was broken by a heavy sigh from Sam who rose up to his full height and turned away from the smaller male. Setting the first aid supplies on the small nearby table as he passed, he walked from their place in the kitchen toward his bedroom not far away and disappeared inside. Steve looked up in the direction where he had retreated and tilted his head curiously, wondering if he said something wrong.

Sam always seemed understanding with Steve. His profession as a mentor at the VA helped to amplify and instill in his never ending patience, especially with the battered male. He was always kind and there for him through all of his… incidents. Even after the number of arguments they had over it, Sam still stuck by Steve when all was said and done. He had been such a great friend for so long, taking him in after losing too many jobs to count and thus losing his own apartment, taking care of the frail male when his somewhat fragile health caught up to him, being there when he needed him most... 

However, Steve knew that at some point even friends get tired of the same crap all the time. There were only so many times someone could go through the same motions before it got old. He wondered if Sam was getting tired of cleaning up the messes Steve always seemed to find himself in. 

After a few long and drawn out minutes, the other male returned, not looking up from the sleek phone he was currently furiously typing away at. Steve remained quiet as he waited to see just what Sam had to say. Despite the fact that Sam had always seemed to be the one with the most sense and ability to keep a level head, Steve knew that the rationality will wear thin. 

When the darker male finally looked up, his brown eyes danced over Steve’s frame as he took in all of the injures Steve had accumulated; many still bright and fresh. They added to the large number of ones that hadn’t quite faded yet from the last fight he had been in. They littered his pale skin, making him look even more colorful than a paint pallet with all the varying shades of greens, blues, purples and reds. 

He held back a pitying sigh as he crossed his arms over his chest and shifted to put most of his weight on one foot. With a determined look set into his features, he tried to figure out the best way to begin. 

“Look…” he said carefully. He didn’t want Steve to get the idea that he wasn’t wanted or anything, which had been a recurring thought since his mother died and he had finally lost his apartment, “I know a place. It is out of town quite a ways, but it’s a good place to go that may…” taking a deep breath he tilted his head and proceeded with even more caution than he already was, “help with all of this, er… insane sense of righteousness that you have boiling over inside you. They take in people who don’t quite know how to… fit in with everyone else. Maybe they could be of some help to you.”

He looked Steve over another time, seeing how the smaller man seemed to shrink a little at the offer to go somewhere else; to get out of his hair so to speak. He likely thought that Sam had finally reached his wits end with the blonde. Which wasn’t true at all. Yet he still likely thought that maybe Sam just couldn’t find it within himself to help the un-anchored male anymore. Not after so many attempts to reign in the constant buzz of rage that resided in a body who was far too small to possess all of it.

With another sigh, Sam deflated as well and let his arms fall to his sides. He knew he struck a nerve with Steve but he wanted to help and this was the only was left that he knew of.

“I know you mean well Steve. You always want the best for everyone and try to help out as much as humanly possible. And I love ya for it man. But you can’t fight every person who does the slightest thing wrong and refuses to change it. Especially when you live in New York. There are thousands of people here. _Millions_! Not all of them are as good as you want them to be.” he looked down to his phone that was still weakly gripped in his hand and continued softly, “You aren’t a superhero and really, you can’t keep going around like you are. If your body won't give out on you for it, the bad people out there will…” 

He trailed off, not wanting to humor the thought as he stared hard at his phone. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see what expression Steve’s face held at the unspoken notion. 

Taking a deep breath, he grew more firm, certain what he was going to say was the right thing to say. “So you need to go to a place that can help you learn to channel that into something more productive. Something that won’t get you fired, or… you know...killed every time you decide that someone needs to pay for what they did.” Finally, he looked back up from his phone, trying to remain as even faced as possible before he turned the screen around to face Steve, showing him a red dot on the map that he had pulled up. 

“You need a place as big as your heart…”

\--

It had been a fairly nice day out, the temperatures only rising a little since the morning, showing that the day would be comfortable for all those who currently worked and resided at the large farm. It was a refreshing change from the past few weeks, in which the temperatures were quite warm and hardly standable. Clearly the changing of the seasons was upon them and soon their work would increase ten fold to get everything set for what was to be an icy winter. 

The sprawling land was home though, and even in the most extreme cases of weather, the gruff male would always go to work and ensure that everything was always running as smoothly as a working farm could. It was the least he could do after all this place had done for him. 

James Buchanan Barnes had spent the past eight years at Halloway Springs trying to both mend the farmstead and his own life. After being discharged from the military on medical grounds, he found himself with no home, no job, no money, no friends and nowhere to go. No one wanted an anxiety riddled, one armed military vet with as much of a redacted service record as PTSD. 

He had spent months living on the streets, which wasn’t uncommon for veterans, sadly. He bounced from temporary housing to temporary housing when he could find an opening in one all while trying to find a job that would add enough to his small military pension to be able to afford a cheap apartment. However, New York City wasn’t a cheap place to live and he didn't have the means to go much anywhere else. His life had been there before the war, so when they asked him where he would like to be dropped off at after he was cleared from the hospital, he picked the only place he knew. After a while, leaving became all the more difficult. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place with no way to get back on his feet. 

He needed a stable footing and wasn’t getting any, so he was sinking fast. 

Then one day, by sheer chance, and probably what Bucky would now consider the best of luck, he heard his name being called from across the street he had been wandering down. 

One of the guys from back when he was in Basic, one that he had become good friends with during their shared training, had spotted him. It had been a while since they had seen one another. Not since they had gotten deployed and were put into different positions, with Bucky climbing the ranks and being moved into a secret division quickly. So he almost didn’t recognize the other male. 

Turns out, the guy had also been relieved due to medical issues, having gotten too close to an explosion and thus leaving him with an almost complete loss of hearing. If it wasn’t for the cheap hearing aids the army had outfitted him with, he would have sunken completely himself. In a world that relies so heavily on sound, not having the ability to gather it was difficult and made life a bit harder. More so for those who hadn't been born that way; like those who knew nothing else, only how to manage it. 

He had been fortunate, though, to have bounced back onto his feet with a little more ease than Bucky did. Which isn't to say much more, but he still managed to find a gal, adapt to his new way of hearing and found a stable friend and mentor that proved to be invaluable in helping him transition back into civilian life. 

He had treated Bucky to lunch and, over a beer that they had transitioned into having after, he had found out about Bucky’s troubles. Knowing how hard it was to not have a good support group around him, he had called up his girlfriend so stand wasn't blind sided by the sudden newcomer, and within minutes had told the brunette he was going to give him a hand. He let him crash on his couch for as long as he needed and took him to see his mentor in hopes that the other could help Bucky try and settle in. 

After a few strained months though, he still wasn’t doing too well. He was far more restless and on edge than his friend. He had far more ghosts than the other did. He had far too many issues to overcome to try and maintain what other people would consider ‘normal’. So despite now having a person to be there and help try to ground him, he still wasn’t quite fitting in right. He couldn’t settle. 

With no idea how to help Bucky, his friend brought his concerns up privately to his mentor, who already knew the gist of it from Bucky himself, and had been carefully asking around for any advice. As word got around that he needed extra help, their mentor was informed of a place that could provide it. A place out of the way from most of society. A farm that took in unruly kids, unsettled adults and troubled veterans. No hardened criminals, just simply people who needed a little more care than others. It gave them a place outside of the loud, always busy city, gave them a job, and gave them security.

They would come, learn the ropes, and learn how to be… okay. They were welcomed as long as they needed and offered all the care possible in exchange for hard work around the land.

Out of options and unsure of what else they could possibly do, they brought up the suggestion to Bucky who took to it surprisingly well. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew that there wasn’t much left. 

So, without much of a fuss and a little help from his friend and his mentor, Bucky had packed up what little of his life that he had after leaving the military, and headed out there.

He had been hesitant at first. Other than his service buddy, no one willingly let him stick around. Not for long anyway. However, the owners took one look at him and took him in with open arms and without any questions. They had their fair share of tough cases, especially ones who had come out there from not being able to fit back in after serving. They knew better than to ask questions and simply just offered him a place to go, a bed, and treated him like any normal hired hand at the farm. They knew that above anything else, he had to feel like he wasn’t any different from anyone else. Even more so since he wasn’t… whole anymore…

It had been strange, and difficult beyond belief, to learn how to manage with one arm. Tasks before, typical everyday tasks, had been difficult enough at first when he had been released, but he grew accustomed to those. These? These were new. Different, and many, _many_ times more grueling. 

He almost gave up a couple of times, but the farm owners were quietly supportive and guided him to staying and trying again. Never directly, they weren’t going to force him to stay if he didn’t want to, but they did their best to make it seem like it was the best decision for him. They would talk with him, discuss what they could do to help if at all, and then they let it be. Let it be _his choice_.

In the end, no matter how tough it was, no matter how many ghosts still haunted him, no matter how frustrating it was, he would never get past the front gate with his bag before turning back to the house where everyone acted like he hadn’t almost left forever. 

After all the pain he still found himself in each and every day… he stayed.

And it was the best decision he could have made. Each and every time. 

Leaning against the fence line, watching over the small head of cattle that lived on the farm, he allowed himself a moment to think back on the early days at the farm. Those were some of the days he could look back on without feeling total terror or despair. So his mind wandered to them often when he wasnt busy with chores. He liked to think about how far he had come since those days. Sure, he still hadn’t quite worked up the grit to leave the farm just yet, but he was far from the bundle of terror wrapped in a deadly package that he was upon first arriving. 

His reverie was broken by the slowly approaching sound of what seemed to be a coin banging and tumbling about inside a clothes dryer. Odd. Blinking his dark blue eyes a few times, he brought his vision back into focus and looked away from the herd that had also noticed the noise, and towards the road. Puttering up the gravelly road, towards the farm’s front entrance, as fast as the engine could manage, an old cab made its way loudly towards them. 

This peaked his interest. As far as he could remember, there weren’t any classes today so the chances of someone coming out to their far corner of the world was slim. The place functioned well on the people who resided there so additional workers didn’t need to come and go for varying shits. Needless to say, the car had caught his attention and all other thoughts that he had been traversing through were long forgotten. 

As it reached the corner of the field right beneath the farm’s entrance sign, it turned and pointed towards the main house. Pushing away from the railing, leaving the no longer interested animals to their own devices, he turned to walk toward the main house after the yellow vehicle. 

Perhaps it was a new person staying there. Someone who, like him, needed some guidance and an escape. 

A handful of people had come and gone in the eight years he had been there, but it was still a compelling experience when someone new stepped foot onto the property. Even more so right before the seasons change. The farm rarely took anyone in during the season changes when times became harder; because it was not easy to manage the increased workload and teach someone new what to do all at the same instance. 

By the time he had made it up to the main house and rounded towards the front porch, the cab had already pulled to a stop and the rattling ceased. The driver was already out and yanking a suitcase from the boot, grumbling harshly to himself. Tossing it to the ground with far more force than should be acceptable he continued his quiet tirade. Shutting the trunk lid with a slam, the passenger barely had the chance to climb out of the backseat before the driver was back into his own seat grumbling about the drive as he got ready for the long trek back into the city. 

Starting the car up again, he spluttered away as quickly as the beat up machine could, leaving a small, confused male in its wake. 

Bucky watched as it rounded the corner back to the main road and rattled away. Before he could open his mouth to even speak, the door to the porch opened up, causing the male to stiffen and clutch his breath. Eight years of peace or not, some things were never going to quite go away. Sudden noises, especially in the presence of strangers, caused his nerves to spike and he had to talk himself down from a defensive retaliation. 

Spinning around quickly to assess the noise, he watched as an elderly lady who was equally as small and equally as frail as the newcomer made her way down the steps to him.

“You must be Steven!” she said brightly as she reached him and smiled. He turned to look at her and nodded slowly. 

“Uh, yes ma’am.” came his cautious but polite response before he found himself looking away from her and around the bit of the farm that he could see. He was in awe. Having been in the city his whole life, he had never seen something so grand, so open and so wild. 

She smiled another warm smile that Bucky had always felt to be rather comforting, and nodded in return with a soft clap of her hands to bring his attention back to her. “I am Marjorie. Sam called and let us know you were coming.” she looked to her watch and then back up at the boy, “You’re early though! We thought you’d be in sometime this evening after dinner, but no matter, we will simply have to let the cook know to make a little extra for meals.”

She reached forward to grab his suitcase from where it still lay on the ground and Steve jumped forward to pick it up instead. She waved him off with a ‘pish posh’ as she hauled it up and held it out to Bucky who was still standing nearby. 

“Be a dear won't you James, and take this to the emerald room.” she asked him which earned a curt nod in return as he reached out to grasp the case from her. Once her hands were free again she ushered to his form and looked to Steve. 

“This is James Barnes, one of the other residents here at Holloway.” she then turned to look at Bucky who, up till then hadn’t really taken the time to really look at the male before him and had been instead standing in an awkward daze. 

He finally let his eyes dance upon the small form in front of him. Steve was shorter and petite and, though he clearly tried to hide it, wasn’t in the best of health. He was a bundle of gangly limbs but he still stood as straight and careful as he could, his arms stiff as if prepared for a fight. His blonde hair was carefully brushed to the side out of his soft blue eyes that held a fierce defiance fire and he could see that they were looking Bucky over as well. 

He cleared the lump from his throat and shifted from one foot to the other. “Uh… Bucky.” he informed him as he averted his gaze from the cute blonde. If he still had both arms, he would normally have reached forward to shake his hand, but at the moment his only appendage was currently occupied with a rather heavy suitcase and the other… well the sleeve was pinned up to his shoulder, leaving the air where it would normally be, vacant. There weren’t that many instances anymore, in which he was overly aware of only having one arm, having slowly been getting used to his everyday life without it. However, times like this he was only too conscious of the fact.

Steve let his eyes dance down to the empty air and a little part of him wanted to ask about it. However, he knew it wasn’t his place nor was it appropriate. The sturdy male before him was clearly adapt and could handle himself despite the loss, so he was not about to treat him any different for it nor make him uncomfortable with an awkward, unreturned handshake. Instead, he smiled lightly at the handsome male and nodded. 

“I’m Steve.” 

Bucky looked back up to him and over once more before tilting his head a bit, his dark hair that had been loosened from the ponytail it had been in, falling into his face, tickling his cheeks. 

“Right then.” The farm owner said brightly, breaking the silence that had grown between the two men. “This way, I’ll show you to the restroom where you can wash up before we begin our introductions.”

Turning on her heel she made her way up towards the house, looking back to the two figures behind her. “Come along now, don’t dawdle! And James, emerald room, alright?”

As she opened up the screen door and made her way inside, Steve began to follow her. He paused a moment to turn back to Bucky. Taking a deep breath through the nose, he lowered his head slightly in almost a thankful ‘bow’. 

“Thank you Buck. I’ll uh… See you later then.” 

With that, he turned and disappeared inside after the older lady. 

Bucky watched his retreating form, eyes dancing over his shoulders and down his slender back to his rear end. Averting his eyes quickly he swallowed hard and tried to keep the red flooding his cheeks to a minimum. 

“Well shit.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! 
> 
> Did you catch the hint of who Bucky's military friend was???  
He'll make an appearance later, don't worry. ;-) So will many other people we all know and love. 
> 
> For now, best wishes!  
Ta!


End file.
